Admissions Warning for All

Thanks to Google Alerts, I stumbled across the following forum post by someone with the pseudonym “Balance”:

Shell Shocked

My worst fears were confirmed to me on Monday when, after seeking advice from a confidant within the school‘s administration and teaching faculty, I realized that I should withdraw from law school. And so yesterday morning, I did.I don’t want to get into specifics. Long story short, I misrepresented myself with respect to my criminal record on my application for admission to the school, and in doing so, sacrificed the integrity of the admissions process. I also sacrificed my own personal integrity. I was desperate to get accepted, and that desperation eventually contributed to me making a very foolish and regrettable decision.

My life, my future, has been turned upside down and there’s no one to blame but myself. I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to the people who love me. I don’t know where to begin. I spent 22 years trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do in this life, and I thought I’d finally found it; I excelled in law school. I thought I found it.

I don’t know why I’m posting this. I think I just need to tell someone, or anyone, about this epic fail of mine. Looking for some kind of catharsis that I won’t find.

Later in the thread, Balance further explains:

When applying to the school back in ’05, I lied by omission in regards to a felony conviction from ’00. Even though the final disposition was and is sealed, I was still obliged to disclose the facts of the case in my application for admission. My school never caught the omission, so I could theoretically just keep my mouth shut and hope the Florida Bar doesn’t notice my deception. I could also continue living feeling like a liar and hurt a fledgling school that’s tying to build a solid reputation for itself. I’m not going to do that.

This is one of the sadder posts I have read in a long time, but certainly not the first such story I have heard in my fourteen years of advising applicants. The lesson here is obvious: Don’t omit items you are required to reveal on your application. The risk is just too high.

We have had clients with records accepted to top graduate programs. I am not saying that the record isn’t a blemish or doesn’t make it harder to get accepted. However, failing to disclose what you are obligated to disclose — be it a misdemeanor, academic discipline, or a bad transcript — could lead to the withdrawal of an offer of admission or a request that you withdraw from the program that has accepted you. I have even heard, in a particularly egregious case, of someone being disbarred years later for an “irregularity” in his application to law school.

In this case Balance is withdrawing from law school; the reality is the same for undergraduate and other graduate and programs. This is not an issue limited to law school. The story and its implications apply to all admissions.

I wish Balance well after going through a difficult experience. You, however, should learn from his costly, painful error: You are better off taking your lumps by assuming responsibility for your actions than being thrown completely off balance for sins of omission.